Is USA to Europe airfare up in 2010?

I was checking out airfare prices for summer 2010, and direct flights
from just about any city in the USA to Europe start at nearly $1,400.
Last summer I flew from Philadelphia to Charles de Gaulle non-stop for
$1,028. The same flight in 2010 is $1,381. Is it too early to be
looking at flights 6 and 7 months from now, or have prices really gone
up 40%?

In article
,
Thornhill wrote:

I was checking out airfare prices for summer 2010, and direct flights
from just about any city in the USA to Europe start at nearly $1,400.
Last summer I flew from Philadelphia to Charles de Gaulle non-stop for
$1,028. The same flight in 2010 is $1,381. Is it too early to be
looking at flights 6 and 7 months from now, or have prices really gone
up 40%?

Yeah I really wonder about that too. And it's not just direct flights,
even those with connections are expensive too, in many cases more
expensive than the shorter, direct flights.

Airlines have cut a lot of domestic capacity but international routes
were suppose to be the lucrative ones they wanted to keep.

In fact, Air France is adding extra flights between SFO and CDG this
summer, yet their prices are higher than I've ever seen.

Last year though, it was in Feb. or March that they had sales and
SFO-FCO on Delta was $644 at the end of March.

Supposedly travel to Europe by Americans was down last year. There may
be a recovery in the US but EU is supposedly lagging behind. So the
prospects for increased demand seems mixed at best.

Maybe in a couple of months they will have fare sales.

On Dec 21, 11:44*pm, poldy wrote:
In article
,

*Thornhill wrote:
I was checking out airfare prices for summer 2010, and direct flights
from just about any city in the USA to Europe start at nearly $1,400.
Last summer I flew from Philadelphia to Charles de Gaulle non-stop for
$1,028. The same flight in 2010 is $1,381. Is it too early to be
looking at flights 6 and 7 months from now, or have prices really gone
up 40%?

Yeah I really wonder about that too. *And it's not just direct flights,
even those with connections are expensive too, in many cases more
expensive than the shorter, direct flights.

Airlines have cut a lot of domestic capacity but international routes
were suppose to be the lucrative ones they wanted to keep.

In fact, Air France is adding extra flights between SFO and CDG this
summer, yet their prices are higher than I've ever seen.

Last year though, it was in Feb. or March that they had sales and
SFO-FCO on Delta was $644 at the end of March.

Supposedly travel to Europe by Americans was down last year. *There may
be a recovery in the US but EU is supposedly lagging behind. *So the
prospects for increased demand seems mixed at best.

Maybe in a couple of months they will have fare sales.

Does anyone ever really have sales on summer flights except at the
last minute with a ton of restrictions?

If this 40% fair increase really happens, I suspect the airlines will
price many people out of the market, including me. That extra $400
could pay for a lot of other things.

On Dec 21, 4:13*pm, Thornhill wrote:
I was checking out airfare prices for summer 2010, and direct flights
from just about any city in the USA to Europe start at nearly $1,400.
Last summer I flew from Philadelphia to Charles de Gaulle non-stop for
$1,028. The same flight in 2010 is $1,381. Is it too early to be
looking at flights 6 and 7 months from now, or have prices really gone
up 40%?


Try to book within 3 months. Airlines generally don't discount very
far in advance since they don't know how many people will book the
flights - when it gets closer to the time and the flights are mostly
empty, then they start discounting.

On Dec 23, 9:10*pm, Iceman wrote:
On Dec 21, 4:13*pm, Thornhill wrote:

I was checking out airfare prices for summer 2010, and direct flights
from just about any city in the USA to Europe start at nearly $1,400.
Last summer I flew from Philadelphia to Charles de Gaulle non-stop for
$1,028. The same flight in 2010 is $1,381. Is it too early to be
looking at flights 6 and 7 months from now, or have prices really gone
up 40%?

Try to book within 3 months. *Airlines generally don't discount very
far in advance since they don't know how many people will book the
flights - when it gets closer to the time and the flights are mostly
empty, then they start discounting.

I've heard people say that, but I fly domestic often, and I've never
seen it in practice. Two routes I take a lot are Philly to Atlanta and
Atlanta to Newark; whether the plane is completely fully or half
empty, the price is always the same.

Try to book within 3 months. Airlines generally don't discount very
far in advance since they don't know how many people will book the
flights - when it gets closer to the time and the flights are mostly
empty, then they start discounting.

I've heard people say that, but I fly domestic often, and I've never
seen it in practice. Two routes I take a lot are Philly to Atlanta and
Atlanta to Newark; whether the plane is completely fully or half
empty, the price is always the same.

Hi,

at this point next SUMMER's prices aren't discounted... but I'd watch
out for sales that you might be able to use... 2 for 1 for trips where
travel STARTS before June 1 for example.

you used to be able to get really good last minute deals from the US to
Europe because fewer people had passports if they had empty seats and
less than a week until departure prices would get slashed.

my best deal I think was 6 nights at the Leidseplein Marriot and r/t air
from Memphis (via Houston) for 450$... booked it EARLY Monday morning
(i.e. 1am) and left Wednesday.

but now that the US pretty much requires a passport for all
international travel more and more people have them and there's less
incentive to make the dramatic cuts for last minute intercontinental
flights.


--

Hackamore
http://www.hackamore.com
http://www.hackamoretravel.com

On Dec 28 2009, 11:33*pm, Hackamore wrote:
Try to book within 3 months. *Airlines generally don't discount very
far in advance since they don't know how many people will book the
flights - when it gets closer to the time and the flights are mostly
empty, then they start discounting.

I've heard people say that, but I fly domestic often, and I've never
seen it in practice. Two routes I take a lot are Philly to Atlanta and
Atlanta to Newark; whether the plane is completely fully or half
empty, the price is always the same.

Hi,

at this point next SUMMER's prices aren't discounted... but I'd watch
out for sales that you might be able to use... 2 for 1 for trips where
travel STARTS before June 1 for example.

you used to be able to get really good last minute deals from the US to
Europe because fewer people had passports if they had empty seats and
less than a week until departure prices would get slashed.

my best deal I think was 6 nights at the Leidseplein Marriot and r/t air
from Memphis (via Houston) for 450$... booked it EARLY Monday morning
(i.e. 1am) and left Wednesday.

but now that the US pretty much requires a passport for all
international travel more and more people have them and there's less
incentive to make the dramatic cuts for last minute intercontinental
flights.

--

Hackamorehttp://www.hackamore.comhttp://www.hackamoretravel.com

Thanks, but I would need to book in advance.

I know someone who rents out their apartment in Paris during the
summer for ridiculously little. The apartment is booked up by March.
As I said before, I was thinking of doing a cheap trip to Europe, and
this would be it, but everything would need to be booked in advance. I
don't want to have paid for the apartment now and then wait until the
last minute to book a flight -- because then I'm stuck with whatever
the rate is.